Bringing Him Back
by Honest Beauty
Summary: This is a alternate ending to LightEcoSage's War of the Champions. The story begins fromn her Ch. 40 and goes on. Basically Jak makes Damas pull a him and brings him back to life.


Bringing Him Back

Honest Beauty

Alternate ending of War of the Champions by Light-Eco-Sage

Chapter 40 (of original)

The huge vehicle, which is called the Slam Dozer, handled like a lead balloon and didn't go very fast, but it was great for smashing through walls and the remains of buildings, as Damas had shown.

The area around the Palace was infested with Dark Makers, but any Dark Precursors that Jak didn't run over was gunned down by Damas with the vehicle's powerful weapons.

However, the biggest problem came from the short-range missiles that the Dark Makers sent their way. If you stayed in one spot for too long, the missiles would get a bead on you. However, as long as the vehicle remained in motion, there was little to worry about.

Finally, they reached the large hole that used to be under the Palace, the one that lead down into the Catacombs. Jak stopped the vehicle. Damas smiled at Jak approvingly. "Wow! We're actually alive!" Daxter celebrated... much too soon.

Jak heard a strange noise, along with Damas, and they both gasped, turning around. A large missile was heading their way. There was no way they could move the vehicle in time. Jak might have been able to get himself out in time, but he couldn't leave Damas!

So Jak was still in the vehicle when the missile hit, flipping the vehicle over in a blaze of fire. Something hit Jak's head and he knew no more.

Jak woke up a short time later with a moan of pain. He was badly hurt, he could feel it. He opened his eyes and sat up painfully to see the full extent of the damage. He was burned terribly and his leg and at least three or four ribs were broken.

Jak shut his eyes tightly against the pain that threatened to bring tears to his eyes and concentrated on healing. The burns faded away and that was followed by several nasty snapping sounds as bones fell back into place.

Finally, when everything seemed to be in order, he sat up slowly, for his head still hurt. The wreckage of the Slam Dozer sat several feet away and Jak realized he must've been thrown from the vehicle when it had overturned.

Daxter sat several feet away with only minor wounds and no burns, which suggested that he had gotten out of the vehicle on time. Jak would've been angry with him, but Daxter didn't have healing powers and would have likely died in the explosion.

Wait... suddenly Jak remembered there had been another passenger besides Daxter. "Damas!" Jak got up slowly and began to limp (his leg still hurt) around the Dozer.

He found Damas on the other side of the Dozer. He was not badly burned, at least not so badly that it was fatal. But that wasn't what Jak saw. Damas' legs were crushed under the vehicle's roll cage. There was a lot of blood staining the ground, and Damas was pale with blood loss.

"Damas!" Jak hurried over to his King's side.

"Not... bad driving, kid." Damas said weakly while Jak kneeled down next to him and supported the injured Warrior-King's head. Daxter came around, but kept his distance from his best friend and his sworn lord. "It was a good fight..." Damas coughed. "And a good day to die. I'm... very proud to have been by your side... in the end." Jak shook his head in denial. "Don't fear... this world is not yet out of heroes..."

"We did well together." Jak said. "Don't move!" Jak reached for the holographic emitter that he carried. "I'll call for help..."

Damas stopped Jak's hand. "There's no time. Just... just promise me one thing... so I can die in peace."

"I'll do anything within my power." Jak said. "I am yours to command."

"Good." Damas coughed again. His time was running out, and he knew it. "Promise me that you'll find my son. And, when you do, you'll give him his name..."

"His name?" Jak asked.

"Yes. I've thought long and hard on it. It would be an honor for my son... to carry... your name." Damas said. Jak blinked in surprise. "Jak... a good name, a name carried by great heroes and great legends..."

Jak was left speechless for a few seconds. "I... I would be honored that your son is named after me." Jak whispered. "But... how will I know him when I see him?"

Damas reached up to his throat and pulled something from around his neck, something that was concealed by his clothes. "You'll know him when you see this." He put the object in Jak's hands. It was the Seal of Mar. Jak blinked and couldn't stop staring at the small, familiar medallion in his hand. "He's... wearing an amulet just like it... a symbol of our lineage with the Great... House of Mar..." The Seal was exactly the same as the one Jak carried, the one worn by his younger self. But, before Jak could fully piece this information together, Damas coughed, and began to speak his final words. "Save the people, Jak... they need you..."

Damas' eyes closed and his head fell limply onto Jak's lap. He was dead.

Daxter watched this scene unfold with his mouth covered in horror. "My God..." He whispered, but said no more. For the first time in his life, he was speechless.

Jak merely stared at Damas' dead body for several seconds. Tears began to well up in his eyes as the truth dawned upon him. He kept the word inside for several more seconds until he couldn't hold it in any longer. Then he spoke, one, single, emotion-filled word.

"Father..."

The old walls broke down. As mentioned before, Jak had hardly let himself give such a display of vulnerability as crying in the last three years. To cry was to show weakness in Jak's mind. But during the times of extreme emotional upheaval, he had to let loose. His emotions were everywhere at once, and nowhere at all. So, he could only weep for his loss. The loss of a King, the loss of a friend, the loss of a fellow Warrior, and the loss of his biological father, whom he had searched for his entire life.

Daxter slowly approached the weeping elf and laid a comforting paw on his arm. Jak didn't acknowledge him because a wild gleam of something showed suddenly in the dark elf's eyes. He turned to his friend and spoke quickly.

"Dax I'm going to try something. Don't interrupt me." His friend nodded as the emotion torn elf got up quickly and, with a grunt of effort, threw the remains of the Dozer off his father's body. The still crying elf then took Damas' head into his hands and pressed his forehead to the king's cold one. Sending a quick prayer for success to the Precursors, Jak then plunged his spirit after his father's. drawing on Damas' memories of what he sounded like before he lost his voice as a young child, Jak deepened the voice just a bit to one of a seven year old boy. Using that voice mentally in place of his own, Jak cried out to his father's fleeing soul: _Father! Father, Don't leave me alone like this! Come back to me father, please COME BACK TO ME!_ Jak felt and saw Damas' spirit halt at the sound of his son's 'voice'. Damas turned and Jak projected an image of what he had seen himself look like in the mirror at age seven, letting his face crumple and tear up in sadness and reach out both hands to his father.

Damas started to come back but was halted by an unseen force. Jak used his seven year old 'voice' again. _Fight it father fight it! Come back to me, I love you, Father!_ Jak could see his father's soul straining towards him and he started channeling light eco into the body of his father, restarting his heart and praying that his plan would work, as Damas slowly brought himself closer to Jak. Damas' spirit sped up, the force holding him back was weakening. Jak held out a 'hand' to his father and Damas' spirit 'grabbed' it.

_Father, I knew you'd come back. Now follow me._ He said and pulled Damas' spirit back into his eco-filled body. Jak came out of his trance and raised his head off of his father's just as Damas' eyes flew open and he gasped in agony as the pain of his wounds hit him light a sledgehammer. Jak now manipulated the light eco he had sent into the older elf's body to heal his wounds. He saw Damas start to glow and saw Damas notice it through his pain and confusion. The older elf looked down at his glowing body and gasped as he saw his wounds slowly heal before his eyes. Jak watched his father's face as Damas' face relaxed as his pain disappeared. Finally, Jak felt the light eco heal the final injury and, closing his eyes, pulled the remaining eco back into himself.

Damas gazed at his vassal in wonder as Jak opened his blue eyes. Jak lifted Damas' head off of the younger elf's legs and maneuvered around to crouch beside the prone king. The dark elf then easily lifted Damas into his arms, bridal style and walked him over to where a slab of stone was positioned against the ground like a reclining chair. Jak set the elf down gently and crouched down next to him as Daxter jumped up to his usual spot on Jak's shoulder. Damas licked his lips and spoke.

"What's going on? What happened, why and how was I glowing?" the older elf asked.

"One question at a time, Damas. First off what do you remember?" Jak replied.

"I remember the missile about to hit us, I remember you holding my head and me telling you my last wishes and I remember everything going black and losing consciousness. I'm pretty sure I died, then. But then I was in darkness and I heard my son's voice, calling to me. I saw him then: he was right in front of me crying, holding his hands out to me and begging me to 'come back to him' I fought my way to him and was able to grab his little hand. He stated pulling up from the darkness I and into a bright blue-white light. Then suddenly I opened my eyes, saw you and felt pain rip through my body. Then the pain started fading and I realized that I was…glowing and so were you, slightly. Then I felt you pull the eco that was in my body back into you (Damas is a Channeler so he knows what eco feels like in the body and knows when it is entering or leaving as well as where the eco is going.) and then you picked me up and carried me over here." Damas said, raising his hand slowly up to place it on his head. Jak nodded and smiled, but Damas' face creased in confusion even more.

"But if I died how am I alive right now? And where is my son, I know I heard and saw him. and why the hell do I feel as weak as a new-born kitten?" the king demanded of his vassal. Jak looked into Damas' eyes then replied slowly.

"Well what you remember did happen, you were glowing because you were channeling light eco and I was making it heal your body. As to why you think you died and are now alive…you _did_ die, Damas. Your are weak right now because your body is not used to channeling light eco or using it to heal your injuries." (AN: even though Jak was directing the eco, it was Damas' body and his channeling abilities that were doing most of the work in dealing with the king's injuries.) The older elf gaped at the green and blond haired elf in disbelief and Daxter jumped in.

"You did, your majesty. I saw you stop breathing and die. But I guess Jak made you pull a him."

"What do mean by that, rat?" the king asked. Jak waved at Daxter to shut him up and spoke.

"He's referring to the time that a huge triangular piece of metal was propelled into my stomach. It went partially through me, the point emerging out my back. I died, Dax said it was for about a minute, but I was able to force myself back to life through sheer force of will and then pulled the metal from me, healing my body as it came out. Not a pleasant experience, believe me."

"What does that have to do with me or me seeing and hearing my son?" Damas demanded and saw the younger elf beside him wince slightly in guilt _Now why would he wince like that?_ Damas wondered.

"Well, I brought you back to life much the same way. But I had to convince your spirit to want to come back, because it was very hard for me to do it and I knew that if you didn't have a reason or desire to live, I wouldn't be able to bring you back." Jak paused, looking at Damas as he started to put two and two together. "So I used the only thing I could think of to convince your spirit to live: your son."

"Why?" Damas grated out, anger shining in his eyes at being manipulated. Jak winced again and sighed.

"I couldn't let you die."

"How?" Jak looked at the older elf, confused, "How did you know what he sounded and looked like? It wasn't from my memories that you pulled those images. So how?" Damas elaborated.

"Oh, that. Well I did take the sound of your son's voice that you had in your memories and deepened it to sound like a seven year old's."

"But how did you come up with what he looked like, dammit!" Damas growled as Jak fell silent.

"That was the easy part, actually." Jak responded quietly as Dax stayed silent on his shoulder. Damas stared at him, dumbfounded. "I just recalled when I looked into a real mirror when I was seven and projected that memory at your spirit." Damas started then spoke quickly.

"What do you mean by that, Jak?" the younger elf reached his right hand into his shirt as he responded.

"The _real_ reason I brought you back was because I couldn't bear having found my father only to lose him again, this time to death." Jak said quietly looking down at his right hand which closed around something, as was his left. He opened his left hand to reveal the seal of Mar which Damas had given him only minutes ago. Turning his eyes to meet Damas' squarely, Jak opened his other hand to reveal the seal of Mar that his younger self had given him a year ago.

Damas stared at his hands, then face and gaped. Jak's lips twitched into a ghost of a smile. "I'm sorry I tricked you, Father, but I couldn't lose you, not when you didn't even know that you had found me and I had just finally found _you_."

Damas' eyes lit up with joy and tears formed slowly at their corners as the king stared up at the younger elf. "My son," the older elf finally whispered tenderly, reaching up weakly to grasp Jak's shoulder lovingly.

Suddenly, a highly unwelcome voice disturbed the reunion. "So... you've finally figured it out, have you?" Jak glared in the direction of the voice, as did Damas. It was Vegar, the very last person he wanted to see now, not when he had finally found his father. "Took you both long enough. I certainly thought it was obvious, even before I found out about your time-traveling. The great 'Jak' of the legends is you, isn't it?"

"Go away." Jak hissed, anger in his voice for the skinny elf's interruption.

Vegar ignored Jak. "Yes Damas, he was that child; Prince Mar, heir to the Thrones of, not only Haven City, but Spargus as well. Even as a child, you had the signs that pointed you out as the greatest Channeler since the Great Mar himself." Vegar spat on the ground. "Channelers! Channelers always got the glory and the honor, and leaving none for normal people."

"You're not a Channeler?" Daxter asked.

"What does it matter? You were a Channeler, so after that idiot beside you disappeared to the Metal-Head Nest and Praxis took over the throne, I kidnapped you from your mother to discover the true missing link between Channelers and normal people." Jak began to growl dangerously as Damas stared at the count in shock and anger. Any sane man would be running for the hills, but Vegar was having too much fun taunting Jak and Damas to run. "All I learned before I lost you to the Underground was that Channeling abilities are the result of a genetic mutation that is passed on through hereditary means." Vegar paused at the look on Jak's face, a look of anger slowly being replaced by a look of endless rage. "Oh, and both of you never realized who the other really is? You are the son of the 'great' Warrior-King, Damas, and that freak who is holding your head so tenderly is your son!" by this time even Daxter was pissed at Vegar and Jak and Damas looked ready to kill the count. Jak had slowly moved in front of Damas, placing himself between the two older elves. The dark elf was preparing to attack Vegar, but apparently the count was not as stupid as he was acting.

"So happy I could be of service to you both, now neither of you will have any regrets when I do…this!" Vegar opened fire on the two surprised elves with blue eco enhanced bullets. Jak realized what was happening when the fist bullets were half way to them. Not having time to transform to his Light side, Jak merely made sure that both Daxter and Damas were completely behind him and braced himself. Vegar had emptied his gun at them, six bullets total, and while one bounced off of his armor, one hit his upper right arm, left upper chest (almost at his armpit), right outer thigh, one pieced his left ear (mid way out), and one lodged in the neck muscles that connected to his shoulder on the left side. Jak cursed in pain, but surged to his feet anyway, intent upon killing the count.

The young elf froze half way to Vegar and called himself seven kinds of idiot in his head. Vegar had moved side ways just before Jak his gotten up and now had another fully loaded gun pointed at Damas' heart. Jak slowly moved his left hand up to a throwing position and materialized a dark eco throwing dagger.

"I wouldn't throw that if I were you." Vegar warned the dark elf. "By the time it reaches me, I will have fired this gun and killed your precious father. And don't bother trying to teleport like you did against the precursor robot. (Vegar had a camera installed in the chamber so he could gloat over the dark elf's demise.) I know that you have to transform into your Light Eco Freak self to do that. So if I see you start to transform, I'll fire too." Vegar finished and smirked at his nemesis. "Now if you will excuse me, I have to save this planet now." The count walked backwards to a waiting Precursor vehicle and stood next to the driver's side, all the while keeping his gun trained on Damas. Jak growled but stayed still as his wounds healed, knowing that he would need to reopen some of them to remove the metal slugs.

"Goodbye." Vegar said and fired his gun twice. Jak saw the bullets hit Damas in the right leg and graze his ribs on the left side. Jak snapped with the rage he felt at seeing his father injured again.

"AUGH! VEGAR, YOU BASTARD!" Jak roared, his pure rage bringing on his Dark transformation, but only for a second. He then ran over to Damas as Vegar escaped into the Catacombs. Jak skidded to a halt beside Damas and quickly healed the graze along his ribs and then made his right hand go dark, growing claws and turning gray. "Damas, I need you to hold still. I'm going to get the bullet out of your leg, okay?" Damas nodded his consent. Jak carefully inserted his thumb and index claws into the bullet hole and grabbed the bullet. Making sure that no dark eco traveled into his claws, Jak then quickly pulled the metal slug out and flung it away. Damas had groaned in pain but had kept still.

Turning his hand back to normal and healed Damas' remaining wound. Jak then reopened his wounds in order to remove the slugs from his body while Damas began to speak.

"Jak, what did Vegar mean by time traveling?" he asked.

"After I defeated Kor, the Shadow, his daughter and my younger self were sent back 500 years in time, so he could become me and come to the future again in the rift rider. He gave me this before going back in time. And yes the 'Jak' who defeated the dark eco sage siblings was your son, me, at age seventeen." Jak replied, handing Damas his seal as he healed his wounds again. Damas inspected it and then handed it back to him as they both rose and Daxter reclaimed his spot on Jak's shoulder. Jak pocketed it as Damas pulled out his and said, "I was the king of haven city until I almost died trying to kill Kor." Damas pointed to the scar at the base of his neck. Jak nodded.

"Are you strong enough to come with me Father? Because I need to get down into the Catacombs." At Damas' nod, Jak walked over to the remaining Precursor vehicle but stopped when Damas touched his arm.

"Jak, I very proud of all that you have done. I couldn't ask for a better son in my eyes." Jak turned and looked at the man who was both his king and father and smiled, his throat too tight with emotion to speak. "I'm doubly glad now that I decided to name my son 'Jak', it would be hard for you to change your name at this age. That and you are now named after yourself twice over, how ironic." Jak nodded again as his smile became a grin, and he gave a small chuckle.

Jak, with Daxter firmly on his right shoulder, then climbed into the vehicle and Damas followed suit. After Damas was settled, Jak took off after Vegar at the insane speeds of the Catacombs.

It was clear to Jak instantly that Vegar wasn't used to handling things that went above the speed of sound. Most of the obstacles had been cleared, so Jak had a pretty straight-forward path, straight down, deeper and deeper, heading for the very core of the planet.

Finally, they came into a huge chamber. It was so huge, you could fit the entire City of Haven in it. In the middle was a huge platform that had a rift ring on it, except the rift ring was bigger than any Jak had seen before. It was easily large enough to fly a ship through. It was guarded by two Precursor Robots, mostly standing still, but occasionally moving to show they were, in fact, working.

Jak landed the ship quite a ways from them, seeing as all his experiences with Precursor Robots had been bad ones. Turning to Damas, Jak spoke in an undertone.

"Damas—Father, I need you to stay in the background and not interfere. Most of what's happening only concerns me." Damas nodded as the threesome walked slowly and cautious up to the robots.

"Do not fear us." The Robots said in union. "We would not harm our own Champion. Those Robots that you fought were twisted by others, and have no reflection upon the rest of us. We have been waiting for you a long time... Prince Jak Mar." They paused. Jak let the title slide with them, because he still didn't fully trust them. "We are the Twin Guardians of the Grand Warp Gate and you have the power to activate it and save your world, along with many others."

"What will happen when I activate it?" Jak asked.

"You will receive the full might and aid of the Precursor army, and army ready to help you." The twin Robots said. "Without shields, the Veelen is vulnerable to our weapons. If we attack them swiftly, the Dark Maker Leaders need not ever know that we broke our own rules. For, sometimes, the rules must be broken for the greater good."

"What if there's a repeat of the Aeon tragedy?" Jak asked.

"Aeon?" Damas asked. Jak shook his head and his father dropped it.

"There will not. We do not need to set our weapons at full power to destroy a shieldless ship." The twin Robots said. "Do you have a Dark Eco Crystal, and a Light Eco Crystal?" Jak pulled out one of each and the Robots nodded. "It is enough. Place them in the slots."

"Okay..." Jak said, walking over to slots and placing each crystal into its respective slot.

"The rest of the Crystals are for your own use... no doubt you'll need them."

Suddenly, the Rift Ring activated and the air in the room became so thick that it was almost suffocatingly thick. A single Precursor walked through the ring... a Precursor of such enormous power that it's aura alone caused the thickening of the air. "Greetings, Chosen One." The Precursor said with a slow, regal voice that suggested that it was eons old. "My name is Icarath. I am one of the Precursor Elders." (Name pronounced: 'Ik-a-rath')

"Icarath... it is an honor to finally meet one of the Precursor Elders." Jak bowed politely.

"And it is an honor to see what you have become." Icarath paused. "You have the look of your ancestor, Mar... but you have your mother's eyes." Jak opened his mouth to ask, but Icarath held up a hand. "Young Tiatin has been working with you, has he not?" Jak nodded. "He has done well with you... for being as young as he is. Youth, however, is not always a good thing. Youth tends to make many mistakes that age knows how to avoid. Even now... his naivety has caused him to make a dreadful mistake on his part, not on yours."

Jak wasn't sure how much more bad news he could take. "What mistake?"

"The Dark Maker Champion, mortally wounded, would have been dead as of now. This would have been a victory for the Precursor Brotherhood since the ailment that destroyed him was caused at your hand. But Tiatin snuck onto the Dark Ship and has healed Erol of his Light Eco Poisoning."

"Tiatin did WHAT?" Jak demanded. "Is that why he's called 'Dark Fate'?"

"It is... regrettable, but Tiatin does not know any better." Icarath said. "He does not possess the wisdom of an Elder, nor has he been in contact with one. Do not judge him too harshly, Balanced One. However, even as I speak here with you, the Dark Makers are surely reconditioning your enemy, making him stronger, and more powerful. And, I have come to understand that he his now in control of a large portion of the Dark Maker army... an army more terribly than anything in the whole universe." Icarath paused. "Now he is more Dark Maker than Elvin."

Jak couldn't believe his ears. Things had turned out of favor for him with a single mistake... a mistake that he had nothing to do with, if that wasn't bad enough! Within a few seconds, his chance of victory had dropped dramatically. "What do I do?" He asked. "I can hardly handle one Dark Maker, let alone a whole army!"

Icarath thought for a second. "There is one way to get you out of this war... or give you the power you need to destroy Erol... which ever you wish." Icarath said gravely.

"There's a way? How?" Jak asked.

"I once came to you in the void between physical worlds, a world that no mortal can enter until their death." Icarath said. "Or, at least, no regular mortal. There are two reasons why you were able to cross the threshold to the spiritual world without harming yourself. One reason was that you had been there before. And the second and most important reason is because you have the potential. You have the potential to become like us... a Precursor."

Jak, Damas' (who was standing to the right and behind Jak) and Daxter's jaws dropped. "Wait a second! Are you saying that Jak here can become a glow-boy Precursor?" Daxter asked. "How's that possible?"

"He has the qualities necessary." Icarath said. "First and foremost, you have already been deeply connected to my race." Without warning, Icarath touched Jak's skin, causing the elf to shiver involuntarily. "You remember my touch?" The Precursor Elder asked.

Jak couldn't quite explain it... but Icarath's touch did feel familiar, almost like from a forgotten dream.

"And the second quality necessary... the missing link between Precursors and Elves are Channelers. With the right application of Eco, a Channeler can become a Precursor. You are one of the best Channelers I have ever seen. This honor has been offered to only three other elves, and only one accepted it." Icarath paused. "I, Icarath, Precursor Elder, now offer you, Prince Jak Mar, the gift of Evolution... the honor of becoming one of us."

Jak mind was in turmoil. Not only could he stop thinking about the way he felt when the Precursor Elder touched him, but now he had this on his plate? He was being offered a rare and valuable gift. "If I agree... will there be no chance to reverse the change?"

"No. The transformation is permanent and irrevocable." Icarath said. "Consider carefully, for forever is a long time to regret a hasty decision."

Jak considered the gift that was laid before him. Icarath was right... forever was a long time to regret a hasty decision. The question was... did he really WANT to be a Precursor?

Suddenly, Icarath interrupted Jak's thoughts. "Look out!"

Jak heard a gun shot and spun around in a flash, whipping his hand through the air. Vegar held the smoking gun and was surprised to find that Jak was still alive, considering that he had been aiming at the Eco Freak's head.

Jak simply smiled and held up his hand. There was a small piece of metal between his fingers. It was the bullet that almost had his name on it. Jak had caught the bullet right out of the air! Damas chuckled in astonishment and pride. Needless to say, Vegar was shocked, and he stared. "Great reflexes, huh Vegar? Much faster than your reflexes are, I'm sure." Jak teased, tossing the bullet aside. "You didn't seriously think that you would be able to hit me again, did you?"

Vegar growled. "Step aside, Freak! I'm the one who should evolve into a Precursor! The right is mine!" Vegar pointed the gun at Jak again.

"But... you're not even a Channeler!" Jak said. "You said so yourself..."

"You high and mighty Channelers! All a Channeler is, is a powerful mutant! You don't need a mastery of the Ecos to become a Precursor, only belief... which you... lack!" Vegar looked at Icarath. "So, change me into a Precursor!"

"No!" Jak yelled at Icarath. "He doesn't deserve to die of Eco Poisoning! That's too kind a fate for him! Don't do it, Icarath, you don't know what you are doing!"

"I do know what I am doing... Great One... even more than you do." Icarath said, then he faced Vegar. "Be careful what you wish for, Count, for you may get more than you expected." Icarath pointed at Vegar and a mass of Eco shot straight into his body, lifting him off his feet with its sheer power.

"No!" Jak yelled, afraid that he had lost his chance to kill Vegar. Now Vegar would die of Eco Poisoning.

Finally, Vegar was set down, but he was not dead... nor was he a Precursor. In fact... he looked completely normal. Vegar felt his chest. "I'm not a Precursor? Why am I not a Precursor?"

"You failed to listen to Prince Jak Mar, for he spoke the truth." Vegar frowned even more at the mention of Jak's royal title. He couldn't stand that a Dark Eco Freak like that had the surest claim to the Throne of Haven City besides his father of course. "You are no Channeler, but you are not a non-Channeler either. You are something different... something in between. So, the Eco will not kill you. You are to experience a mutation of a different sort... a devolution."

"Something in between..." Jak mused. "One of your parents was a Channeler, am I right, Vegar?" Jak asked suddenly.

"Leave my mother out of this, you freak!" Vegar hissed.

"So... your mother was a Channeler... but your father was not..." Jak suddenly burst out laughing as he figured it out. He was a Half-Channeler... someone who had no Channeling abilities, but couldn't be hurt by Eco. It was the rarest type of Channeler. Most Channelers were born from unions where one parent was a Channeler, and the other was not. There were simply too few for Channelers to just marry other Channelers. One Channeler unions usually resulted in children with either full Channeling abilities, or no Channeling abilities. But, on rare occasions, Half-Channelers are born. And Jak knew only one other person who was considered 'Half-Channeler.' "Oh my God! This is great!"

"What's great?" Daxter asked as Damas stared, confused.

"Half-Channelers experience a different sort of mutation when they come in contact with Eco." Jak said. "Vegar, let me put it this way... Daxter, here, was once an elf. His father was a Channeler, while his mother was not..." Daxter began to get what Jak was saying. "And Daxter became one of the few Half-Channelers... like I suspect you are. Then he came in contact with a large amount of Eco."

Daxter got what Jak was saying. "You don't mean...?"

"Yes." Jak said, smiling broadly. "Vegar, you are not going to become a Precursor... you are going to become an Ottsel." Damas chuckled heartily from where he stood

"You're lying!" Vegar hissed.

"No, Prince Jak Mar is actually quite astute." Icarath spoke. "All our early tests resulted in this. People with no Channeling ability died from Eco Poisoning, Channelers became Precursors, and the extremely rare 'Half-Channelers' became creatures similar to the small, furry animals that you elves were when we first came to this planet thousands of eons ago."

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light and everyone looked Vegar's way, only to find an ugly and twisted Ottsel in his place. Daxter laughed. "Hey, Vulgar, the rat look suits you!"

"Vegar..." Jak knelt down to Vegar's level, and the rodent cowered from the larger elf. Jak looked an awful lot bigger and more powerful when you were a rat. "I came down here intent on killing in the most horrible way that I could imagine. I thought that a horrible death would be the worst punishment possible. But, when I see you like this... a mangy rat... I know that there are some punishments that are so much worse than death... like living the rest of your life as a rat. No offence." Jak said, looking at Daxter.

"None taken." Daxter said automatically.

"So... you have finally learned that killing is not always the way." Icarath said. "Our gift still stands to you. Do you accept?"

Jak thought, but only for a second. "You're right... forever is a long time to regret a hasty decision. Besides, would I want to live forever while everyone around me dies? I think I'll pass on that gift and continue my life as an elf. Besides..." Jak grinned wickedly. "I've got a war to win."

Icarath nodded quietly. "If you are intent on winning, you will need our help. The war is dissolving... we can feel it. Old rules are breaking down and our fleet was attacked by a Dark Maker War ship on the way to your planet. If they break the rules, we should too... to win." Icarath paused. "Within a few minutes, the Precursor fleet will converge on the Veelen and destroy it. With their shields down, our weapons will tear through that ship. I will send you to the Dark Maker ship now. You will have to kill Erol or, failing that, lead him down to the planet's surface as alone as you can. It will then be your job and your job alone to defeat Erol and win the War."

"So... I have come to the end of all things..." Jak paused. "And I am afraid."

"Fear is a natural emotion that one should not be ashamed of." Icarath said. "Remember always, Jak Mar, that true courage is not the absence of fear, but facing the things you fear and overcoming them." With those final words of wisdom, Icarath waved his hand and teleported the elf and his Ottsel friend away to meet their destiny.

Jak suddenly appeared in the huge cargo hold of the Dark Ship Veelen. And, it definitely was huge for it was twice the size of the chamber they had just left. _Remember..._ Icarath's voice said. _The Precursor fleet will attack that ship in a few minutes. Be clear of the ship by then. And do not worry about your father I will explain to him about the events that are occurring and will then teleport him to his city._ _Thanks_ Jak thought at the precursor and felt Icarath's presence fade away from the room.

Once Icarath's suffocating presence was gone, Jak looked around the cargo hold and gasped. This hold held the biggest Dark Makers he had seen yet. If the true Dark Maker leader was more monstrous than these monsters, then he must truly be the most terrifying being in the universe.

Daxter voice Jak's thoughts. "If these nasty things ever get set loose on the planet, it's finished!"

"Let's hope I don't have to match up against one." Jak said, watching the monsters stomp around on six large legs, each one over a hundred feet tall with a huge main body. It's cockpit-like head sat on the end of a long, thin neck, and there were simply hundreds of them!

Jak looked down towards the end of the large platform that he stood on to see Erol looking down at the army below. He definitely looked stronger than last Jak saw him with Light Eco Poisoning. He had been cured, and looked more powerful than ever. Jak ran up to him.

"All of these Dark Makers at my command!" Erol said as Jak ran up and came to a stop just behind him. "Just think what I can do!" He heard Jak and turned around. "You!" He hissed.

"Me." Jak said simply, pacing in front of Erol like an animal itching to attack. "A pity the Light Eco didn't kill you. I guess we are more alike than we would want to admit. Both of us used to a certain extent by powers more powerful than us, both nearly died of Eco Poisoning, both... Eco Freaks." Jak said as Daxter jumped off his shoulder.

"I am nothing like you!" Erol roared. "You are starting to sound like a Precursor! You share their condescending attitude! The high and mighty Precursors, the self-proclaimed rulers of the universe! Well, guess what, Freak, the time of the Precursors is ending, and the time of the Dark Maker is beginning! You..." Erol paused. "You are on the wrong side of this War."

"Funny." Jak said, continuing to pace. "I was about to tell you the same thing." Suddenly, there was an explosion and the entire ship shook with the force of the shock wave. Jak regained his balance and knew instantly that this was the Precursor attack. "The Precursors are here. Without shields, the Precursor's weapons will tear through this ship like wet paper." Another explosion, and Jak stopped pacing finally. "You're through, Erol!" Jak roared. "Even if we both die!" Jak launched himself bodily at Erol with a battle cry. He tackled Erol and they both went toppling over the edge of the platform, to fall to the ground miles below.

However, Erol grabbed onto the edge of the platform with his mechanical hand and stopped his fall. Jak wasn't so lucky and continued to fall to the ground far below.

Daxter leaned over the edge, but Jak had fallen from view. "JAK!" He yelled.

"Good-bye, rat!" Erol hissed, and then the rodent received a surprise. Huge things expanded from Erol's shoulders and unfolded into huge bat-like wings. He took to the air and dove down to one of the lumbering Dark Makers. He jumped into the cockpit head. A cargo door opened and Erol, in the Dark Maker's body, jumped through and began to descend to the planet surface far below.

The air was being sucked out through the hole and Daxter struggled to keep from falling into space. Then, he lost this footing and fell back... right into someone's arms. It was Light Jak, his huge wings folded close to his body to avoid catching the wind. He had obviously flown back up to the platform. "_Let's go, Dax! It's time to get out of here!_" Light Jak said.

"The Warp Gate!" Daxter yelled over the wind, and pointed to a Warp Gate that was at the other end of the platform.

So Light Jak began to make his way towards the Gate. Not surprisingly, his wings caused the biggest trouble. Every once in a while, they would catch the wind and set him back several feet; but as long as he kept them tight to his body, they didn't cause him much trouble. Finally, they made it to the Warp Gate and crawled through.

After a short, tingly trip, Light Jak found that he was back in the lovely heat of the desert, just in front of the Spargus Gates. Daxter appeared a second later on the ground beside him.

"We're alive! We did it!" Daxter celebrated and jumped into the air.

Light Jak watched as a large meteor-like object streaked towards them. It could only be one thing... "_Not yet._" Light Jak said simply as the monster crashed into the sands, creating a large crater. The Dark Maker Beast unfurled itself and climbed out of the hole it had made.

Erol sat in the 'head' of the monster, hundreds of feet up in the air. "You will all die at my hands!" The Dark Maker Champion yelled, stomping his mighty way over towards Jak and Spargus.

Light Jak stood up in a flash, wings spread wide and two Light Swords in his hands. "_It's headed for the City! We've got to defend it..._" Light Jak paused. "_And my father, Damas..._"

Daxter jumped onto Light Jak's shoulder. "Let's do it, partner!"

"_To the end..._" Light Jak looked down at the weapons he held. "_Which will die? The angel? Or the demon?_" He paused, then recited the final line of the Angel poem. "_Only the Angel can tell._"

With that, Light Jak took to the air and flew straight at Erol. "Your Light tricks won't work on me now, Freak!" Erol roared. "The Darkness protects me now!"

Light Jak flew straight at Erol's head, but the great Dark Maker swung its head to intercept him, so Light Jak was forced to take drastic measures to dodge. He folded the feathery wings against him body and fell twenty feet and out of harm's way.

"_Come out of that machine and face me, Erol!_" Light Jak roared.

"I don't think so!" Erol yelled back. "You see, I hold the advantage here, and I'm not too keen to give it up!"

"_Fine. Then I'm going to have to make you come out of there._" Light said. He folded his wings and dived under the Dark Maker's body and slammed both swords into its underbelly.

The Dark Maker roared and Light Jak removed the weapons and a torrent of Dark Eco burst forth. Then, as to prove the Dark Maker was part machine, part creature, a gun popped out of the creature's underbelly and began to fire large bullets of Dark Eco at the Eco Angel. He may have been immune to the effects of Dark Eco, but bullets that size would leave him nothing but a bloody hole. The angel took evasive action; with a flap of his massive wings, Light Jak flew behind the turret and cut it off at its base.

Erol roared with laughter. "Such weak attacks! You'll never destroy my powerful Beast like that! It runs on Dark Eco, and has an immunity to Light Eco! If that's the best you can do, I suggest you give up now!"

Suddenly, a mass of tentacles popped out of nowhere. They wrapped themselves around Light Jak, taking care to pin his wings to his body and began to smash the elf repeatedly against the rock-hard underside of the Dark Maker.

"Had enough?" Erol mocked. Jak merely growled. Each time he was smashed against the Dark Maker, it hurt like hell and several bones broke. The Light Eco would heal the wounds, only to have the bones broken again by the next hit. "Fine!" The tentacles tossed Light Jak down towards the desert sands. The angel, whose one wing had broken during the last hit, was not able to regain his flight and hit the ground hard, forcing the air out of his lungs. Jak sat up swiftly, his one broken wing hanging uselessly against the ground. His wings may not have been a normal part of his body, but they could be injured, and it hurt like hell. He had only begun to heal the wing when the next threat became known.

"Jak!" Daxter yelled in warning, pointing up. One of the large feet had lifted up to step on him with the hope of turning him into a two-dimensional object. He barely had the time to move away, causing more pain to shoot through his healing wing, before he was crushed.

But the pain didn't last long. His wing healed and he took to the air again to avoid the stomping feet. He flew up again and landed on the top of the Dark Maker's body. The head twisted around to glare at Light Jak. "Don't you ever give up?" Erol demanded.

"No. I can be quite persistent when my life is on the line. Just ask the Metal-Head Leader when you met him in Hell." Jak said, conjuring two new swords since he had lost the last two.

"Now, be realistic! There's no way you can beat me! I'm all powerful!" Suddenly, a laser shot from the Dark Maker's 'nose' and flew at Light Jak. Within seconds, the angel brought up his shield and the laser hit the shield, but didn't cause any damage. The laser stopped when Erol realized that he wasn't going to get through Light Jak's shield with a laser. Instead, he took a more direct approach, namely slamming the nose of the Dark Maker onto Light Jak.

Light Jak winched heavily and almost let the shield drop as the blow hit; the force of the blow caused a large dent to appear in the top of the Dark Maker.

Then Light Jak noticed the Dark Eco tanks behind the Dark Maker's head. The thing ran on Dark Eco! So if he destroyed the power source, he would destroy the beast!

Erol slammed the Dark Maker's nose on Light Jak again, but the shield held again. But, as soon as Erol moved away, Light Jak dropped the shield and took to the air, a Light sword flashing in his grip... the sword sang.

Erol was obviously surprised by this frontal assault. "What the...?"

Light Jak flew behind the Dark Maker's head and struck at the tanks, cutting them in half. Dark Eco cascaded towards the ground and the Dark Maker began to topple.

Light Jak folded his wings against his body and fell to the ground, the angel spread his wings to stop his fall a foot from the ground. The Dark Maker hit the ground and exploded. Light Jak saw the explosion rushing towards him and raised his shield a split second before the fire engulfed him. The explosions lasted for some time. But they finally stopped and Light Jak could once again see the remains of the Dark Maker Beast. Jak let his Light Side fall away and he moved towards the wreckage of the fallen beast to face his enemy... and his final destiny.

Jak walked up to the smoldering ruins of the Dark Maker Beast. A figure arose from the head, which had been made to withstand such an explosion. "You could have just gotten out of the Beast." Jak said, walking up rather calmly. "It would have been easier."

"You... you FREAK!" Erol roared. "You'll pay for that, I swear it!"

"Someday, I probably will." Jak said.

Erol grinned. "I'll kill you." He said. "And after I kill you... I'll enjoy hunting down and killing all your friends. I'll start with the rat... I'll have plenty of fun with him before I kill him. I'll make that little freak beg for death before I deliver what he wants! Then, after the rat is gone... I'll move on to your beloved Father. Yes, I know who he is, and I'll rip him slowly to pieces in front of all his people after showing him your pitiful remains. And finally, Keira. Rape will be nothing compared to the torture I will inflict upon her. I could have loved her, and spared her... but she has chosen you in the end after all..."

During this whole speech, Jak shook with rage and his hands clenched into fists. "You'll never touch Daxter, my father or Keira... not while I still have a single breath left in me!"

"So protective." Erol laughed. "We always were enemies, you and I. Ever since that day, in South Town, long ago, I knew that I would be the one to kill you." Erol paused thoughtfully. "Deep down, I knew that you would survive the Dark Warrior Project, because I was the one destined to kill you, not a case of Dark Eco Poisoning. Can you not feel it too, Number Eleven?"

Jak felt his rage boil over. "I HAVE A NAME!" He roared. "I am Prince Jak Mar, son of the Warrior-King, Damas Mar! I am the Darkness! I am the Light! I am Balance! I am the Destroyer of Dark Sages and Metal-Head Leaders! I am a hero! I am the Precursor's Chosen One and Champion! I AM YOUR DOOM!"

"Impressive titles, Oh Balanced One." Erol said mockingly, summoning two Dark weapons to his hands. "But... do you fight as well as you boast?"

"Let us end this, then." Jak growled, summoning two Light swords. "Only one shall walk away from this. Dax, get off." He added suddenly.

"But..." Daxter began to protest."

"I'll need every ounce of speed and agility I have." Jak said, still keeping his eyes on Erol should the Dark Champion try to attack him. "You'll only be a dangerous distraction and a complication. I'm sorry, Dax, but this is my fight, and my fight alone. I don't want you to get hurt." Daxter slid off Jak's shoulder. "Here, call everyone... for better or worse." Jak tossed Daxter the holographic emitter. Daxter nodded wordlessly and took the device. He ran to a safe distance. Jak touched the scarf on his arm. "Keira... give me strength..." He whispered. He looked back up at Erol.

"Too bad Keira can't be here to cry over your dead body." Erol said.

"Enough talk." Jak hissed, twirling the two blades in his hands. "Let's fight."

"Eager to die, are we?" Erol asked. "Fine, so be it. Show me what Mar's last living descendent can do!"

With that, the two parties leapt at each other and swords clashed. The final confrontation had begun...

From a distance, Daxter used the hologram to contact Freedom HQ and Samos answered. "Daxter? Where are you two? You're supposed to be in the Catacombs!"

"We went there already!" Daxter said hurriedly. "You've got to get everyone out here to Spargus! Jak is fighting Erol!"

"Is it... the Final Battle?" Samos asked.

"Yes, it is!" Daxter yelled.

Samos nodded. "I'll get everyone out there as soon as possible. But... I hope it's not for a funeral..." the old elf broke the contact as Daxter jumped in surprise when he heard footsteps approaching. The Ottsel swung his head to his right and saw that Damas had emerged from his city and was now watching his son fight with Erol. The king glanced at Daxter's startled face and smiled slightly.

"I was watching from the wall but came out when that beast was destroyed by Jak. The precursor explained things to me and teleported me to my throne room." The king said and turned his full attention back to his son as Daxter followed suit.

Back at the fighting duo, things were pretty evenly matched. Though their blades would just be a blur to those watching, they were able to keep up with each other reasonably well. It was clear that Jak was by far the better swordsman, but he was also tired out by his fight against the Beast. Erol, while he wasn't that good, was still in his prime. It was also clear that Erol had some training with the sword. But what Jak lacked in technique, he made up for with speed and power. But what Erol lacked in speed, he made up for with technique and a power equal to Jak's currently diminished power.

Neither seemed able to land a single blow on the other. Back and forth, they moved through the desert sands... the sun at high noon, just like those old-time duels. So, neither could tell just how much time had passed. The only thing going through the fighter's minds were: Block! Counterattack! Block! Opening! Strike!

Soon, it became clear to both fighter that they would not be able to win on the sword alone, so Erol began to play dirty. He leapt backwards and, scooped up some sand, threw it at Jak's eyes with the thought of blinding the elf. Jak stopped the sand from getting in his eyes by blocking the particles with his arm. However, in that small moment, Erol leapt forward and sliced at his arm. The armor stopped his arm from being cut off, but it could not stop Jak from receiving a small cut. A single drop of blood fell for the wound and hit the desert sand before the wound healed.

Erol moved back further, panting with fatigue. "First blood goes to me." He laughed at the sight of the blood on the sand. "So... you do bleed. That means you are still mortal, and I can kill you!"

Jak, too, was gasping for breath. He was tiring quickly. "You are mortal too." Jak said. "There is still an elf in there somewhere. I can hear your heartbeat... and a machine could never have been effected by Light Eco as it affected you."

"I'll kill you before you kill me!" Erol roared.

Without warning, Jak flipped backwards and hit the solid face of a rock formation feet first, then he launched himself at Erol in a desperate attempt to end the fight then and there. The sword caught Erol's... shoulder? Jak had missed.

Jak leapt away from Erol before he could retaliate. Erol roared in pain and pulled the sword out of his shoulder, and crushed it, completely unaffected by the Light Eco.

"Yes, I've got the tolerance too." Erol said. "When your Precursor friend healed me, he gave me the same immunity you do."

"Tiatin!" Jak growled.

"It seems obvious that this contest won't be decided by our skills with a sword, but by the power of our Eco skills."

Jak sneered. "Where I have the natural advantage, considering I'm a natural-born Channeler, and you're nothing but a genetically-altered freak of technology." Jak said, slowly letting his Dark transformation overtake him.

_Your turn. _Jak thought at Dark. _I'm giving you full reign... I need to rest. Kill the bastard, if you can._

**'There's no 'if I can' about it.' **Dark hissed. **'You get your rest. I'd love to kill him.'**

_Remember, Dark Eco has no effect on him. You'll have to get him with your claws._

**'Which makes it all the more fun!'** Dark thought at his host as he took full control and Jak shrunk down to a small corner of his mind to recharge.

"Are you ready now, Jak?" Erol asked, who had waited patiently for Jak to change.

**"I am not Jak!" **Dark hissed. **"My host calls me Dark. But you may call me Your Death."**

"Magnificent weapon." Erol said. "Why fight for such a weak creature?" Erol asked.

**"Don't try to convert me!"** Dark roared. **"My host and I are one and the same. I've felt every pain you've put him through. Even though he is weaker than me, I will fight for him because his death is my death! I feed on his anger and rage, but his pain hurts me also. That's why I fight for him!"**

"A pity." Erol said simply.

The two leapt at each other and Dark instantly slipped under Erol's guard catching him in the stomach with his claws. Erol roared in pain and tried to smash Dark's head in, but Dark was already behind him. Dark kicked him in the small of his back and sent his opponent face-first into the sand.

Erol was up in an instant and threw a poorly-aimed punch that caught Dark in the stomach. Though hardly fazed, it gave Erol the split second he needed. He bodily picked up the Demon and threw him into the nearest rock formation, causing the rock to break in half.

Erol stood up straight, believing that he had won. But if getting thrown into a rock was all it took to bring Jak, or his Dark Side, down, surely someone would have done it long ago.

A loud growl sounded from the rock pile and Dark emerged from the rock, bleeding Dark Eco from wounds that would not heal seeing as he had lost that ability long ago. Erol was too much in shock that Dark had survived to notice Dark's next move. Dark ran straight at Erol, raised a clawed fist, and punched Erol in the throat... an attack reminiscent of when Jak had received his voice years ago.

Erol staggered back, coughing and sputtering. He spat up some blood. **"That is for the pain my host endured for his voice!"** Dark hissed.

Erol suddenly spread his concealed bat-like wings and, before Dark could do anything to stop him, he took to the air.

Dark watched him and growled. **'I can't fly.' **He thought to his alter-egos. **'Pussy?'**

Light was panting with fatigue. _'I... cannot... I'm so... tired... I'm almost out of... Eco...'_

Jak suddenly woke up in the back of his own mind. _Then I'll have to finish this myself without your powers._

**'You can't! You're spent!'** Dark protested.

_Yes, I am tired. If we can't stop this soon... I'm afraid I won't be able to carry on._ Jak paused thoughtfully. _Wait! That's it! I'll lure him in by making it seem like I'm finished! Dark, let me take control._

**'I hope you know what you are doing.' **Dark thought at him, and then he let go of his control on Jak's body.

Jak slowly resurfaced. Almost as soon as he was back to normal. He fell to the sands like he was completely exhausted.

Daxter and Damas saw this from a distance. "Jak!" His cried, but he knew that he was helpless to help his best buddy. Damas looked at his fallen son in anguish. "No, oh Precursors _no_. Not when I've only just found you." The elf whispered to himself, moisture collecting at the corners of his eyes.

"Has this fight taken a bit too much out of you?" Erol asked. "Fine! Allow me to put you out of your misery! Good-bye, Son of Mar!" Erol conjured a Longsword and folded his wings into a dive.

Jak watched his enemy though a slit in his eyes. He watched as Erol came closer and closer... just as he planned. Suddenly, at the last second, Jak rolled out of the Erol's way, was instantly on his feet. And before Erol could recover from his mistake, Jak conjured a Dark Eco sword and sliced one of Erol's wings off.

Erol cried out as the severed wing hit the ground, along with his body, face first in the sand. Jak was on him in an instant, pinning Erol to the ground. Jak had, in all effects, won the fight.

Daxter cheered from his hiding place. The sly old crocadog! Jak had been faking weakness to draw Erol in closer. Meanwhile Damas fairly glowed with paternal pride for his son cleverness. Both were, however, confused as to why Jak didn't just kill Erol. His only explanation was that Jak was not aiming to kill... not yet, at least.

Jak crouched on Erol's back to stop him from getting up, and Jak pressed the Dark Eco blade to the back of his fallen enemy's neck. "I win, cousin." Jak said coldly. "But, before I kill you, I still want the revenge I thirsted for during the torture you put me through. But, I don't just want my revenge... I'm going to avenge all those people who died at your hands in prison." Jak then carefully, almost surgically, drew a long gash across Erol's back with the tip of the Dark sword. Erol cried out as Jak dug deep enough to draw blood. "Number One, Zeb." Jak said. The weapon flashed again, and a second gash appeared. "Number Two, Cutter."

Jak was naming each and every one of the fourteen other men who had died in the Dark Warrior Project, calling each man by his number and name. Each of the dead Warriors received a cut on Erol's back, and a cry from Erol's lips. Jak slowly worked his way through the list. Some names he barely remembered, and some he didn't remember at all. But, still, they were mentioned as 'unknowns'. Jak also skipped over his own number, Eleven, and went straight to twelve. His own revenge would come later.

And then Jak made it to Thirteen. Tears well up in his eyes, despite himself, as he swung the sword back and brought it down in the deepest cut yet, bring the loudest cry from Erol. Jak just hoped that it would be enough to warrant the forgiveness of Sorus' spirit when Jak had killed him with is own hands. "Number Thirteen, Sorus." And, so he continued with the last two losses, avenging the fourteen men who had died in prison.

Now, it was time for the vengeance of the one who had lived through the two years of torture and Dark Eco Poisoning. Jak conjured another sword in his left hand. "And, last of all, me... Number Eleven."

He descended on Erol's back with a flurry, the two weapons a blur as he attacked his enemy. Finally, Jak stopped when Erol's back looked like someone had taken a cheese-grater to it.

"I carry your scars, and you carry mine." Jak said. "My revenge is complete."

Erol would have been in tears if his mechanical body still allowed tears. "What are you going to do now?"

"What do you think I'm going to do? I'm going to kill you now, Erol." Jak said coldly. 'If I don't, our children's children will be dragged into this war. There might be someone out there willing to sing over your dead body... just know that I won't. Good-bye, cousin."

Jak tossed aside one of the Dark Swords and conjured a Light Sword in its place. With an extremely short flourish, Jak stabbed the two contrasting weapons into Erol's heart. Erol let out a shuttering gasp as the swords entered his body. It took several seconds where Jak could practically hear Erol's body try to compensate for the injury. But it was too late... Erol was going to die with an injury like that. It took a few seconds, then Jak heard Erol's breathing stop and his heart come to a shuttering stop. Erol was dead, Jak was sure of it.

Jak pulled to two blades out of Erol's body and let them drop to the sands. "It is done."

Jak dropped the two weapons to the ground and fell to his knees as his fatigue took over. "I'm alive!" He said, almost as if he couldn't believe it.

Daxter ran over to Jak, screaming his head off. "Oh my God! That was the most freaking awesome thing I've ever seen!" Damas followed him, not quite running. When he reached his son, Damas dropped to his knees in front of the younger elf and pulled his unresisting son into a tight hug.

"I'm, so proud of you, my son." The older elf choked out around the lump of emotion in his throat, his eyes stinging with unshed tears. His son blinked once or twice, then brought up his own arms to encircle them around his king.

"Father," He said in a dazed manner, laying his chin on his father's shoulder to stared at his enemy's corpse. He didn't respond to the rat at all, but slipped into silence. He was unsure of how long he knelt there in the desert sands, staring at the dead body of his enemy, with his father supporting him and Daxter's small hand on his back. One thing was for sure, the sun had moved quite a distance through the sky before his thoughts were interrupted.

"Jak!" Damas recalled his son to awareness and pointed over Jak's shoulder at something.

Jak looked around and stood up as Damas released him and Daxter moved over to stand beside the king. A transport had landed without him even realizing it, so absorbed as he in this own thoughts, and none other than Ashelin Praxis got out of the transport. She appeared to be alone. "Ashelin?" Jak asked. "Where's everyone else?"

Ashelin ran up to the elf. "They'll be here in a few minutes. Jak, I'm so glad that you're alive! Is Erol dead?" The she saw the rather mutilated body whose blood had long since stained the desert sands. Damas tactfully moved away to stand in the shadows, unseen.

"Yes..." Jak said slowly, also looking at the body. "Erol is dead... I'm sure of it this time."

"Jak..." Ashelin paused. "Before everyone arrives, I need to talk to you. I know that this sounds crazy, but I love you." Jak didn't answer or say anything. He had suspected Ashelin's feelings for some time. But he never thought that she'd have the nerve to confess to him when he already had a loving girlfriend... someone he loved with all his heart.

Ashelin seemed to take Jak's silence as an accord. She leapt at the elf and pulled the still surprised elf into an embrace. And then she tried to kiss him and Jak's instincts kicked into overdrive. He turned his face away at the last second so that the kiss that was meant to claim his lips hit his cheek instead.

Ashelin pulled away from the elf, looking hurt. "Jak?"

"Ashelin..." Jak sighed, never imagining that he would've had to do this. "This... this isn't right. This won't work between us. I... I have Keira."

"Keira." Ashelin repeated. "Of course. You love her, don't you?"

"Yes, I do." Jak said. "From where I'm standing, there's nothing between us except friendship. I'm sorry, Ashelin, but I can't forget what Keira and I share. Friendship is all I have to offer to you... nothing more."

"I... I understand." Ashelin said sadly. "You love her, what are you going to do? I can't force you to fall out of love with her."

"Ashelin..." Jak truly felt sorry for having to break Ashelin's heart like this. "I truly am sorry. Perhaps... all you feel for me is a crush. Crushes pass with time. I happen to know that Torn really likes you."

"Torn?" Ashelin scoffed. "I've been down that road before."

"Maybe you should try again." Daxter piped up. "Torn's awfully protective of you."

"Listen, Ashelin, I didn't want to hurt you like this, but..." Jak began.

"Don't worry about me... I'll be fine." Ashelin said as a new transport landed nearby.

The back of the new transport opened and several people came out of the back, all raising various complaints about the heat. Samos, Torn, Tess, Onin, Pecker, and Keira... carrying a bag over her shoulder.

Keira dropped what she was holding on the desert sands at the sight of her lover... safe and sound. "Jak! You're all right!" She ran towards him and tackled the elf, baring both of them to the sand, but neither really cared. They only cared about kissing each other as much as possible. Jak had seen the bag, and he knew what it meant. It meant that Keira had decided to move out to Spargus with him, to live with him... so they could be together. Such happiness, Jak had never known up to that point in his life. Jak vaguely heard his father chuckle in amusement and come over to stand near to where Ashelin was.

Torn walked up to Ashelin, who watched Jak and Keira with the beginnings of tears in her eyes. "You told him, didn't you?" Torn asked, and Ashelin didn't answer. "Didn't I tell you this would happen?"

"Don't say 'I told you so.'" Ashelin said. Torn looked like he was going to say it out of spite, but he kept it inside.

Samos was inspecting Erol's malformed body. "Great Precursors!" He gasped, staring that the metallic body, the single wing, and the severed wing on the ground not too far away. "What did those Dark Precursors do to him?"

Jak took his mouth off Keira's skin and propped himself up on the sand. "That's what happens when someone's genetics are messed with." He got up off the ground and pulled Keira up, both brushing stray sand off. Jak snuck a glance at his father, and to his relief, saw nothing on his face other than amusement and approval for their match. Jak smiled in thanks.

Daxter laughed. "Jeez, you've only been apart for... like a day! I understood when you two were apart for months, but... come on! A day?"

"This is different." Jak said. "There was overwhelming doubt of my safe return."

"Hey, no more gloom, Jak!" Daxter said loudly. "The War is over! You're alive! Erol's dead! This calls for a celebration!"

"Quite right!" A new, but familiar voice said.

Everyone looked around towards the voice. Two Precursors stood just at the edge of the group. "Icarath... Tiatin." Jak addressed them.

The more powerful Precursor nodded. "Yes. It is I." He looked over at Erol's body and waved his hand through the air, and the body disappeared. "Everyone deserves a proper burial." He said simply. "So, the War has ended on this planet and this may be the first step to ending this war all over the universe and forever." Jak looked past Icarath at Tiatin, who shrunk under the stare of the victorious elf. Icarath noticed this exchange. "Do not be so hard on Tiatin, Great One. He only did what he believed to be right. He is very young, younger than you are, respectively."

"Forgive me, Great One." Tiatin said. "What I did was nigh unforgivable. I nearly was responsible for the doom of my own Champion!"

Even though Jak was immensely surprised that a Precursor, of all beings, was asking his forgiveness, he answered simply. "We all make mistakes."

"Jak, we have one more favor to ask of you." Icarath said. "You are, without a doubt, the greatest of heroes! You have single-handedly turned the tide against the Dark Makers and, together, we shall win this war." While Icarath spoke, a Precursor ship streaked down from the sky, landing noiselessly nearby. "The point is we need heroes like you to help us protect the universe."

"So... what exactly are you asking of me?" Jak asked.

"We are asking you to come with us. The Dark Makers have a terrible hold on many of the planets in the universe. To end this war for good, we'll need to free the planets of that Dark influence and help life begin again." Icarath said.

Jak looked away from the Precursors. "More adventures? Where have I heard that before?" He felt someone touch his arm and he looked around. It was Keira. He looked at her for several seconds and then smiled. He looked back at the Precursors. "I'm sorry. But that is a Precursor problem. I'm an elf... and my place is here."

"I told you he would not accept." Tiatin said to Icarath. "Now, why don't you give him what he really wants?"

Icarath sighed. "The Great One wants the one thing that is very difficult for us to give him, Tiatin."

"Do you not think that he has done enough to repay his debt?" Tiatin asked. "Or do you intend to make him pay for something he had no control of forever?"

Icarath nodded, and then turned to Jak. "You have a debt to pay, Great One... a great debt that could never be fully repaid. You owe this debt to me and my kind." Jak opened his mouth, once again, to ask about this debt. "No, I will not tell you. There exists only one who can tell you. But... you have been a faithful vassal all your life, and you have done great things in that time, all in our name. And so, for your faithful service even in the darkest of time, I consider your debt null and void. You are released from your service, and never again will we trouble you with Precursor problems."

Jak now knew better than to ask, and to just be grateful for the gift. "Thank you." To be polite, he bowed to the Precursor elder.

Icarath turned to Daxter. "And you... not all courage and bravery is measured by your ability to fight your enemies. There are different types of courage. Yours is the courage to stand by your friend's side even through the greatest of dangers. We owe you much for all you've done. For your bravery in the face of incredible danger, we shall grant you your deepest desire."

Everyone stared at the Ottsel to see what he would wish. Jak, Samos, and Keira all believed he would wish to be Elvin again. But he surprised everyone when he opened his mouth. "You know, I could really use a shabby pair of pants... Ottsel-sized."

Icarath, even though he was a mighty Precursor Elder, couldn't help but laugh. "Such a humble wish! This wish is much easier to grant than the Great One's." Icarath waved his hand and Daxter was suddenly in a pair of Ottsel-sized pants that afforded a hole for his tail.

"Yeah! Sexy!" Daxter celebrated, checking out his new pants.

While everyone else was in shock at Daxter's wish, Tess was in amazement for a different reason. "Wow! Those are sharp! I wish I had a pair just like that!"

"Be careful what you wish for." Icarath said.

Jak blinked. "No! Icarath! Don't do it!"

But it was too late. Icarath waved his hand again, there was a flash of light, and a second Ottsel appeared. Everyone stared. It was undoubtedly Tess. Daxter seemed to be happy by this turn of events, as he wolf-whistled. "Don't worry, baby, you'll get used to it. Oh, and you may want to shave some parts... trust me on that." Daxter took the newly-turned Ottsel Tess in his little arms and they were about to kiss when...

"Hey!" Daxter and Tess stopped and they both looked around. It was Jak who had spoken, and he was grinning. "Sorry. I couldn't resist."

"Haha, you're so funny I forgot to laugh!" Daxter said sarcastically.

"Along those lines..." Icarath moved forward towards Jak and Keira, looking between them. "Both of you have a deep Channelers heritage. Jak, you are one of the most talented Channelers we've ever had the privilege of working with; and Keira... the daughter of a Sage with some Channeling ability yourself. Both of you are connected to the Precursor race through your blood." Icarath looked at Jak. "This connection lets you share some of our more... instinctive traits. As your kind know, we did not marry as you do, but we took Soul-Mates. If there were ever two elves that were Soul-Mates... it would be you two." Icarath took Jak's hands and Keira's hands and intertwined them. Jak watched in wonder, well aware that, at least by Precursor standards, he and Keira were... for lack of a better word... married.

Tiatin spoke. "Good luck, Great One. I hope you enjoy the peace that you've earned."

"Thank you, Tiatin." Jak said.

"Farewell." Both Precursors said. "And, thank you for your help, Great One." The Precursors vanished and the Precursor ship took off.

Almost immediately, a vehicle, a Spargain vehicle (Keira stared at the vehicle, curiosity shining in her eyes) pulled up. Two men, Sig and Kliever got up out of it, smiling to see their king and his vassal were alive and well. But Jak was reminded of the secret he was keeping from his beloved. It was only a matter of time before Damas told everybody who he was and Keira would be hurt that she had to find out Jak's secret from someone else. Jak moved quickly over to Damas before his king could speak the words he wanted to say to Sig.

"Damas, Father, please, don't speak of it now. I never told Keira all of who I am." Jak whispered urgently into Damas' ear. His king turned to him startled, but smiled and nodded as Jak thanked the precursors for his father's innate ability to understand the situation his son was in. Jak smiled in gratitude at his father, but apprehension and guilt for what he had to do and what he hadn't told his lover playing across his face as he turned back to Keira.

"Jak, what's wrong?" Keira asked, noticing the expression on her lover's face.

"It's nothing." Jak said automatically, and then he paused. "Well... it's something. I'll tell you tonight."

The Spargain night was filled with the sounds of revelry. Jak sat on the roof of his home and listened to the laughter echoing in the City, trying to think of the best way to tell Keira who he was.

Jak heard footsteps and knew instantly who they belonged to... Keira. She walked over silently and sat down next to Jak, who was nervous about how his lover would react, smiled and wrapped an arm around her. They sat in silence for several minutes, both lost in their own thoughts.

Then he turned to Keira. "Keira, remember when I told you that I would tell you my secret when we were ready?"

"Yes." Keira answered.

"Well..." Jak paused, turning to face Keira. "I pray to the Precursors this information isn't going your view of me, but I'm..." He paused again, wondering if he should back out. "Keira, I'm royalty."

Keira stared at her lover. "Did you just say 'royalty'?" She asked. Jak nodded. "But... how?"

"Typical way... my father was King before me." Jak said. "Keira... my last name is Mar. I'm a Prince by birth. Technically, I should be ruling either Haven City... or Spargus. My father... is King Damas Mar... the ruler of this city. You saw him this afternoon, the one with a spiked crown."

However, only a few words had gotten through to Keira. Damas Mar? His father? Keira was sure she had heard that name before... she thought of Carla... otherwise known as Anastasia, the woman who had taken her in when she had nowhere else to go. "Oh my God!" Keira gasped.

Jak panicked at her reaction. He was afraid that she was doing just what he feared... to see him as a different person and not the man she loved, the man who loved her. "Keira, no matter what my last name is, I'll always be your Jak! Being a Prince doesn't change the way I feel about you!"

Keira noticed Jak's panic and quickly calmed the elf down. "Don't worry." She said. "I still love you, Prince or not. But... what do you know about your mother?"

Jak blinked. "Almost nothing." Jak said. "Just that I, apparently, have inherited her eyes. And I haven't exactly had time to talk to my father about her. I only found out today that he is my father."

Keira remembered thinking that Carla had eyes just like Jak... the same ocean blue. "You don't know her name?"

"No." Jak said, then he glanced at Keira. "Keira, do you know something?"

"I don't know..." Keira said slowly. She leaned up against him and he wrapped an arm around her. Then, within seconds, they were kissing.

Slowly, Jak pulled away from her. "Keira, marry me?" He asked.

The question came as such a surprise that Keira wasn't ready for it. "What?"

"Marry me, Keira." Jak repeated. "I love you with all my heart and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Keira had been having fantasies of Jak proposing to her for the past few weeks, and each time, she imagined herself saying 'yes' right away. But now that it was reality, she hesitated. "Jak... I don't know. We're still so young. I... I mean I love you, but what will our friends think? What will my daddy think? What will _your_ father think?"

"Our friends? Daxter will support us. He's been bugging me to propose to you for months." Jak said. "Anyone else can bite me. And your father... he's already agreed. And Father, well I talked with him for a few minute while everyone was getting inside Spargus. He approves."

"What?"

"I asked your father's permission to marry you." Jak said. "It took a small amount of convincing, but he agreed. Keira, please, say you'll marry me. I... I can't live without you. We'll live out here in Spargus. Please... marry me?"

Keira looked into Jak's hopeful face, and then she smiled. "Yes, Jak, I'll marry you."

Both elves cried out in happiness and embraced each other, kissing each other wildly in their new-found joy.

Daxter watched from a short ways away, listening quietly with a wide grin on his face. Everything had turned out all right after all. He quietly dismissed himself to give the couple a little privacy. Of course, that didn't mean he wasn't going to tell everyone about the happy event. (But not who Jak was, his friend had already threatened to tie him up in the arena if he so much as hinted who and what Jak was.)

Yes, after all those years of fights, separation, and love, Jak and Keira were finally going to get married!

"They are WHAT?" Torn demanded later that night. He was still rather uncomfortable in the heat.

"You heard me, Tattoo-Face." Daxter said proudly. "They're engaged!"

"You're lying, rat." Torn said. "I know that Jak loves her and all, but he doesn't seem the type to get hitched."

"Don't doubt it, Torn." Samos said. "He asked me a few days ago for Keira's hand. I've expected this ever since Keira got off the transport. In fact... I've been expecting them to elope."

"Jak? Keira? Elope?" Daxter laughed. "Not likely... but not impossible." Daxter blinked. "I'd better go check on them." He ran out.

Tess sighed. "Oh, it's so romantic!"

Torn stared. "Aren't you even upset that you've been turned into a rat?"

"A little." Tess admitted. "But I've got Daxter."

Torn rolled his eyes, along with most of the people in the room. "Oh brother..."

Daxter walked back up onto the roof and found that Jak and Keira were still making out.

"Great Precursors!" Daxter exclaimed. "I know you two are happy and all, but isn't this a bit much?" The couple pulled away from each other. "Well, now that I've got your attention... congrates on the engagement! Everyone is really happy for you two!"

"What?" Jak asked in surprise. "How could they know that Keira and I are engaged now?" Jak suddenly paused, and then glared at his friend. "Daxter!"

Daxter laughed. "Heehee. Guilty as charged. Well, I was just coming up here to make sure you two didn't try to elope or anything."

"Elope?" Keira asked.

"Eloping? Not a bad idea." Jak said. "I've got connections with the Precursor Temple, you know."

"Jak!"

"I'm joking!"

Keira sighed. "Well... might as well go down there and face everyone."

"Keira... I'd face anything with you."

"Oh pul-ease!" Daxter moaned.

Jak got up and offered Keira a hand. She accepted it and he pulled her up off the ground easily. Daxter jumped up onto Jak's shoulder and the elf put his other arm around Keira.

"Hey, remember when we were all 'just friends' back in Sandover?" Daxter asked suddenly.

"What do you mean 'remember'?" Jak asked. "That was three years ago."

"Yeah, it's amazing how a group of friends can change in three years." Daxter said. "I mean, look at you two. You guys are going to get married! It's kind of sad, though. I hope you two won't forget about me in the midst of your loving marriage."

Jak and Keira laughed. "We'll never forget about you, Dax." Jak said. "You are my best friend after all."

"Same here." Keira agreed.

"Besides, we couldn't ignore you even if we tried." Jak laughed. "I'm sure you'll interrupt us many more times in the future."

"Haha, you're probably right about that." Daxter laughed.

"Come on, let's go face everyone." Jak said, walking back into the small house. They were instantly greeted by everyone. Most offered their congratulations, while some, like Torn, kept voicing his opinion that Jak wasn't the type to get married. And, no matter how many times Jak told Torn that he was getting married, Torn refused to believe it. The elf had a feeling that Torn wouldn't believe Jak until he witnessed Jak and Keira's wedding.

But it didn't matter. Nothing could bring Jak down tonight. Not even the fact that he still didn't know who his mother was and if she was still alive at all.

Later that night, Keira snuck away from the group and her new fiancée. She moved into a small corner and pulled out a small communicator and punched in a number.

A female voice answered. "Hello?"

"Carla? It's me, Keira." Keira said quietly. One would think that, since Carla had been the first person to really encourage Keira to pursue her feelings for Jak, she would be bursting to tell her that they were engaged. Instead, however, she merely said: "Listen, how fast can you get out to Spargus?"

The next morning was an absolutely beautiful Spargain morning. It was still too early for it to be really hot. Keira smiled warmly to herself. All her troubles seemed to melt away when she was being held by Jak after a long night of passion. She could feel his strong arms wrapped loosely around her naked upper body with his bare chest pressed against hers.

She looked up into her lover's face, expecting to see those deep, blue eyes looking back at her. But she didn't see them. In fact, it amused her to find that Jak was still asleep.

It did give her the time she needed to think about things in general. She still could hardly believe that they were engaged. Jak's proposal seemed like a dream, as did the night before. But it was real, Keira was sure of that.

And she pondered Jak's last name, and what it could mean for the both of them. As Jak had put it, he was royalty. It completely blew her mind that the man she had loved since she was very young, a man who had lived the life of a country bumpkin, prisoner, rebel and outcast, had once been and still is a Prince! Keira laughed quietly to herself. Jak was one man who had lived on ALL sides of the tracks.

What would happen when Haven or Spargus found out that Jak was the son of King Damas of Spargus and formally Haven City? Well... Haven wouldn't care. They hated Jak and didn't welcome the thought of a single man having all the power in their society. But Spargus was a different matter all together. From the way she saw the people act towards their king, to what Jak had told her, Damas, his father, is a deeply respected King and ruler of Spargus, and there are men who would die for him... like Jak. If and when they ever found out that Jak is Damas' son, he would definitely be pressured to take the throne and crown that, in all respects, belonged to him. She wondered if Jak had thought of that and if he wanted to be king eventually.

Suddenly, she felt Jak's grip tighten on her upper body. She looked up at him and smiled when she saw that he was now awake.

Jak smiled a slow and lazy smile that reminded Keira of a younger Jak. She nearly melted into his embrace. "Morning." He said simply.

The she-elf stretched briefly and the couple shifted slightly until both were comfortable again. "Morning, Jak." She said with a smile.

Jak pulled the she-elf closer to himself, wanting to keep her as close as possible. "I love you, Keira." He breathed, pressing his lips to hers, remembering the love and passion of the night before.

When Jak pulled away, Keira smiled back at him. "I love you, too." She said, running her hands over Jak's back. She could still feel the knotted scars that covered his back... scars that would probably never fade... scars he would carry for as long as he lived.

Jak sighed as the she-elf traced a livid scar with her fingers. "Somehow, I thought they would disappear when Erol was dead and my revenge complete." He paused. "I was wrong. I guess I will be forced to carry Erol's scars forever."

"I've told you before..." Keira said. "You can't blame yourself for that. And besides, I love you, all of you... scars and all."

Jak smiled. "Thank you, Keira. You have no idea how much that means to his part demon/part angel freak." He kissed her again, moving his upper body until it was draped over hers as he continued to kiss her.

"You evil tease." Keira hissed when he pulled away.

Jak laughed. "Would you prefer I do this?" He grinned evilly as he moved so he hovered over her body, and he continued to, not only continue their lip-lock, but he planted kisses up and down the column of her throat.

"Yes..." Keira breathed. "I like this much better."

Sunlight began to stream through the window, illumining the small room and the she-elf, through her love-haze that fogged her brain, noticed how bright it was. She playfully pushed her new fiancé off her. "What?" Jak asked.

"What time is it?" Keira asked.

Jak looked out the small window and at the Wasteland sun, which was just beginning to show through the window. "Seven o'clock?" He estimated.

"Oh no!" Keira sat up swiftly, not even bothering to grab at the sheets that fell off her chest. "Come on, Jak, you lazy bum, we've got to go!"

Jak sat up too and wrapped his arms around the she-elf, holding her in place from behind. "Go where? We've got nothing to do. Stay here with me."

"No!" Keira protested as he tried to nibble on the edge of her ear. "We have to get up!"

"No we don't. Stay with me."

"I've got a surprise for you." Keira said suddenly.

Jak stopped trying to pleasure her to look in her face. "A surprise?"

"And all you have to do is get up and get dressed."

Jak considered this offer for a few seconds. Not a lot to think about, really. "Fine." He said, pretending that it wasn't that big of a deal. Both elves got up from the bed they now shared and began to dress, Jak occasionally gave Keira advice on how to survive in the desert environment. After all, Keira wasn't used to the heat yet. But, with time, she would, just as Jak had. She did ask one question that puzzled him however.

"Jak would your father be up by now?"

"Yeah, he's an early riser. Why?"

"Could you get him to meet us in room 12 of the hotel in about ten or fifteen minutes?" seeing Jak's expression and his opened mouth, shook her head at him to forestall his question and continued, "don't ask me why, just get him to meet us there, okay? It's part of the surprise." Jak looked at her askance, but complied, getting his communicator out and punched in the number Damas had given him yesterday.

"Damas? Could you meet me and Keira in room 12 of the hotel in about ten or fifteen minutes? Keira says that she has a surprise for us there." He asked neutrally.

"Sure, I'll be there. What is it about?" Damas asked, puzzlement in his voice.

"I don't know, Keira won't tell me." Jak replied exasperatedly.

"Okay, see you both there." Damas said and hung up. Jak flashed a thumbs-up at his lover and she smiled.

Finally, both were clothed in appropriate desert appeal, and they left the room, hand-in-hand, glancing lovingly at each other from time to time.

Daxter was already awake, which in itself was rather unusual. He looked up at the couple as they entered and grinned boyishly as he sensed the invisible connection between the two lovers. "Hey, you two crazy love-birds! How was the night?"

"It was great." Jak said off-handedly.

"Come on, Jak!" Keira insisted. "We've got to go!" She went out the door without Jak.

Daxter stared at the door that Keira had just exited through. "You two ain't eloping, are you?" He asked.

"Nah. Keira wouldn't have it." Jak said. "She's insisting on a traditional wedding."

"So..." Daxter paused. "Did it finally happen?"

"What?"

"Did Keira give it up to you?" Daxter asked. "Have you two finally lost your virginity?"

"Dax!" Jak hissed. "I did not lose my virginity last night!"

There was a slight pause as Daxter stared at his buddy. "There's no way you can tell me that when you two practically scream 'lovers'!" Daxter yelled.

Jak laughed. "No, I lost my virginity ages ago." Jak said. "Last night was just good, old-fashioned love-making."

"WHAT?"

"Bye, Dax, I have to go." Jak said quickly, running out the door to join his waiting fiancée. He would never keep Keira waiting for long... he wouldn't keep his future bride waiting...

Almost as soon as he was outside, Keira grabbed him by the arm. "Come on!" She urged.

"What's the rush?" Jak asked, laughing, and allowing himself to be pulled off down the dusty streets. Finally, Keira pulled the slightly confused elf to the hotel. At the entrance, Jak stopped and turned to his fiancée.

"Keira, what is this about?" Jak asked.

Keira rolled her eyes. "Jak!" She drawled. "It's a surprise, you big dork!" It was almost like they were children again, what with the innocent calling of names. But, at least it wasn't like when they were fighting. Jak had been called a 'Freak' more times than he could count, but he had never been too bothered by it. He was a freak, it was just simple as that. But when Keira had called him a freak... that one hurt more than all the other times combined. Jak shoved those thoughts aside as Keira spoke again. "Now, can you give your insatiable curiosity a rest? There's someone that you HAVE to meet!"

"Who?" Jak asked as Keira pulled him into the building and down the hall, counting rooms, until she came to one labeled number twelve. She stopped in front of the door and knocked. After a second, the door opened and Keira pulled Jak into the room.

At first, the only thing Jak saw was a normal-looking hotel room, then he noticed a woman that stood by the window. She turned around and Jak gasped. He looked at Keira. "Your friend, Carla?" He asked. "But... I've met her before."

It was, indeed, Carla. The same woman who took Keira in three years ago when she had nowhere else to go. She was a woman in her early thirties. She had ocean-blue eyes and blonde hair with just a few hints of gray that were the evidence of the years of pain that had aged her beyond her normal span.

"Keira? Jak?" She asked, having known Jak on a superficial level, and mostly knowing him as Keira's boyfriend.

"Carla..." Keira began. "I'm sorry for what I'm about to do." Jak stared at his fiancée, confused. "What you told me long ago, you told me in confidence. But... all secrets must now be revealed."

Suddenly, Carla's facial expression changed from confusion to a mixture of fear and anger. "Keira, don't!" She ordered.

"Jak..." Keira plowed on. "Meet Queen Anastasia Mar, the former queen of Haven City and King Damas'... wife."

Time seemed to stop in the small hotel room. Nobody in the room even breathed. Jak was in shock, very much like when he finally discovered that his father was Damas. But if Carla, now only to be known as Anastasia, had been Damas' wife... than that could only mean that the woman that stood before him was his...

"Mother." Jak whispered, barely audible. He could see it now. Eyes that he got from his mother... Anastasia's eyes were exactly the same shade as his own.

Anastasia stared at Jak. "What did you say?" She asked quietly.

"I... I called you Mother." Jak stuttered, completely unsure of himself.

Anastasia stared at Jak. "No, you're not my little boy. He should be seven years old now... if... if he's still alive."

Jak opened his mouth to say something, but his voice had failed him again. He couldn't get anything out. So, Keira stepped forward to plead his case in his place. "It's a long story, Anastasia, one involving time travel. But Jak is your long-lost son."

Jak seemed to get his voice back again, and he pulled out the Seal of Mar that his younger self had given him. Anastasia recognized it instantly. "Damas, the king of Spargus, is my father." He said in a quiet voice, as if his voice would give out on him any second. "We both found out who the other was at the same time. Just before I defeated the Dark Maker's Champion." He held up the seal to the light. "This is the Seal that belongs to me... to forever remind me that I am a Prince with no past."

But Anastasia was still skeptical. "Anyone could have given you that Seal."

"Ana..." Keira began, but Jak stopped her.

He took a single step towards her, humming a tune... a lullaby. Anastasia froze. Then, Jak began to sing quietly the words that went with the tune.

"From the time when I was young

I prayed for a child to call my own."

Both Anastasia and Keira stared at Jak, both with very different thoughts. This lullaby seemed so full of sorrow to Keira.

Jak continued his song:

"But now that the day has come to me

I wish it wasn't so..."

Anastasia joined in, singing the sorrowful lullaby with tears in her eyes, eyes that looked so much like Jak's.

"It's not that I don't love you

My precious baby boy

But what the Fates have planned for you

It rips my heart in two

How could the Fates be so cruel

To take my little boy?"

Tears began to flow down Anastasia's cheeks. "I sang that song once... only once. Soon after my son's second birthday. It happened so long after the Soothsayer told me the Prophecy that destined my son's fate... how he would lead a life filled with pain, anger, and sorrow... to fill a greater destiny. No one else ever heard the song... only my son. Not even Damas heard a word of it." She paused, more tears falling down her face. "I don't know how it's possible, but you must be my son! You must be my little Mar..." Suddenly, she embraced Jak.

Jak, who had never known a mother besides Daxter's mother, was unsure how to handle the situation. But he embraced his long-lost mother, regardless. "And my name is 'Jak', Mother." Jak said. "Damas named me."

Keira watched as reunited Mother and Son embraced and smiled to herself. Jak had given her his love and so much more. She had given him her own love and his family back. She knew that, for Jak especially, that the situation would be difficult to cope with for a while. She also knew that challenges lay ahead of them. She knew that even loving marriages could be riddled with misfortune.

But as she looked at the man she loved, her light, her love, her Champion, her fiancé, all those worries drifted away.

Anastasia and Jak pulled out of each other's embrace. Jak looked over at Keira. "Thank you for bringing me here." He said, and meant it. He moved over to her, and took her in his arms, but before he could kiss her, a knock sounded at the door. Keira eyes lit up and she grinned to herself

"Right on time," She exclaimed as Jak nodded and Anastasia looked puzzled. Jak walked over to the door and opened it. His father stood there and Jak beckoned him inside. The older elf complied, starting to speak.

"Now, son, just what is it that your fiancée wanted to show us?" Keira saw Anastasia jump and go pale at the sound of the king's voice. Jak and Keira grinned and Jak moved out of Damas' way so his father could see the older she-elf. Damas had kept his eyes on his son when Jak had moved sideways. "Well, what is—" Damas cut himself off as his son pointed towards the older she-elf. The king looked like someone had hit him over the head with a board and his jaw sagged open. Anastasia looked like she was seeing a ghost. Then the she-elf shook off her shock enough to speak.

"D-Damas?" she whispered, coming a half step closer to him and reaching her hand out to him. Damas started at the sound of his wife's voice then spoke.

"Anastasia!" he whispered lovingly and rushed forward to take her into his arms. The she-elf threw her arms around her husband's neck and they kissed. Both elves were crying tears of happiness. Finally after nearly a minute of kissing, the two broke contact and looked over at the younger pair of elves.

"Keira, thank you. You have made me the happiest man in Spargus." Damas said fervently.

"Thank you, my friend. This is the kindest thing anyone has done for me for the past four years." Anastasia said quietly to the she-elf she had taken in three years ago. Keira chuckled and smiled.

"It's funny. Most girls dread having to meet the in-laws, not help reunite them." She said as Jak and Damas joined her. Anastasia looked at the younger she-elf then at her new found son and smiled slowly.

"So, my son has found his true love. What mother could ever ask for more?" she motioned for the two elves to join in on the embrace. They complied with great eagerness. The new family clung to each other before breaking apart. Then Jak turned Keira's face to his and brought his head down to kiss her deeply as his father echoed him by kissing his mother again.

Keira sighed as his firm lips moved over hers and she complimented his motions. The War of the Champions was finally over and the years ahead contained only mysteries. But she didn't care. Come what may. She knew that she could face anything, she could live through anything, as long as Jak Mar, her real-life Prince Charming, was at her side. Even becoming queen someday if her new father-in-law wanted his son to become heir to the Spargain throne.

So... childhood friends turn into teenage lovers and transform into engaged adult couple. Of all the transformations one could undergo, love is the most beautiful and powerful of all.

Jak pulled away slowly, smiling sexily. "I love you, Keira, with all my heart."

Keira smiled back. "I love you too, Jak."

And they sealed this vow with a kiss, giving each other a wordless vow of everlasting love.


End file.
